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Simmered seitan can be a bit more fiddly to make than steamed, as it requires you set time aside to actually keep an eye on the simmering pot and ensure the simmering continues without advancing into too strong of a boil. It had it’s advantages though. The resulting seitan is more ‘steak-like’ in texture, and has a rich meaty flavour.

When the weather gets warmer, the cold udon noodle dish usually makes an appearance. It has that perfect balance of refreshing, from the cold udon noodles and veggies, and rich with the dense peanut sauce over the seitan strips. Don’t forget to squeeze a little lime over the top to add that extra ‘zing!’.

We’ve once again got Isa Chandra Moskowitz to thank for this recipe. I’ve included copies from her book ‘Vegan With A Vengence’ below. This was actually the first of her books that we got, a much loved gift from a friend. Don’t mind the messy pages! It just goes to prove how well loved this is…

Many of us have heard of ‘aquafaba’ now. The juice out of cans of chickpeas can be used to make vegan meringues, and as more people experiment we are discovering more ways it can be adapted to suit many of the complex uses of egg meringue.

So do you want to make your own vegan lemon meringue pie? Did you think going vegan would mean you would have to miss out on treats like this? Not at all! Here’s the recipe!

It happens to all of us, no use denying it. You crave foods from your pre-vegan days. Well, the good news is, if it’s a chicken burger you’re craving, you can have your burger and eat it too with this ‘Steamed Chicky Seitan’ burger from Isa Does It.

Here’s a running guide if you would like to skip ahead at any point:0:00 “Intro”0:05 “The Recipe”0:18 “Meet’n’Greet-ients” (Meet The Ingredients? No? I Tried!)2:30 “The Preparation”6:43 “Wrapping Your Burgers”11:50 “The First Finish” (You Can Have More Than One. Who Knew!?)13:40 “Make It Smaller!” (That’s What She Said)14:40 “One Final Tip” (That’s How She Lies To Herself)15:25 “Serving Suggestions” (We Promise Ours Are Better Than The Cereal Box)

Turns out Mum enjoyed cooking for YouTube. So here’s another episode of cooking with Mum. This time we have this easy homemade vegan cheese, which is great for adding to baked dishes such as lasagna, or cheese melties. I myself ate one this morning stirred into some baked beans, which created a delightful creamy cheesy sauce.

I recently read John Wyndham’s most famous sci-fi novel, ‘The Day of the Triffids’. For those unfamiliar, ‘The Day of the Triffids’ follows the post-apocalyptic story of Bill Masen, one of the few humans to escape a plague of blindness. Those remaining must also face the scourge of the triffids; a mysterious species of carnivorous plants which has developed the ability to walk and hunt, and had appeared suddenly decades previously.

Due to my habit of viewing the world through ‘vegan-goggles’, I found myself drawing out themes in the novel that could be related to vegan philosophy. In particular, I saw contrast in the relationship between humans and animals, and humans and triffids.

So, I was listening to ABC AM radio Friday morning and they were interviewing Richard Di Natale. I was quite surprised to hear him singing the praises of dairy farmers, basically putting his full support behind them. I found the transcript online, and here’s the quote:

“On the dairy industry, for example, we’ve got a range of policies that would look after farmers rather than at the moment you’ve got the old parties and the National party who I keep hearing from people right around the country, are just deserting farmers and not representing their interests.

They’re more interested in supporting the fossil fuel industry, the mining industry. You’ve got that revolving door between the National party politicians and the coal seam gas industry.

People are fed up with it. They want a group who is going to represent their interests and they’re seeing that in the Greens.”

It’s always nice to be asked to a meal where your companion is genuinely excited for the food. Pair that with the joy of finding somewhere you loved in times P.V. (pre-vegan) had added vegan options to their menu and, generally, you know it’s going to be fiesta time for your taste buds!

Such were the circumstances when Montezuma’s of Melbourne Street, North Adelaide, announced on Wednesday that they were now able to ‘veganise’ any of their vegetarian menu items by switching the cheese and sour cream for vegan replacements. This would add a $2.50 fee to the price of any meal.

If you’re a bit of a food obsessed individual, like myself, you maybe find yourself sitting in front of your computer at odd hours reading Wikipedia articles on obscure food related topics, and developing a working knowledge of things that might seem interesting only to yourself (a basic history of the ‘base sauces’ recognized by French cuisine, maybe?). Sometimes it may seem there are certain food traditions that are simply out of reach to vegans while still remaining within the realm of practicality. It’s always a pleasant surprise when you are proven to be wrong, and I was recently with a visit to Ginza Miyako on North Terrace.